20th Century Fox announces release date for Deadpool

Ever since test footage of Deadpool was leaked online, excitement has been building on whether or not Fox was actually planning on a Deadpool movie. Well Deadpool fans rejoice, 20th Century Fox officially announced they are moving forward with giving Deadpool his own movie. Ryan Reynolds - who portrayed the self proclaimed 'Merc with a Mouth' in X-Men Origins: Wolverine - has expressed interest since then to return to the role and do a proper R-rated movie closer to the source material instead of the awful portrayal that was a part of X-Men Origins.

For those of you who don't know who Deadpool is, he is a Marvel Comics character named Wade Wilson who started out by joining the military in his late teens and later became a mercenary. For every job that he botched as a mercenary, he would perform plastic surgery on himself to change his identity. After years of being a mercenary, he was inducted into the Weapon X program (the same program where the X-Men character Wolverine received his adamantium claws), where he was given the mutant power of regeneration. Deadpool is often seen as a morally ambivalent character. He is often in stories alongside The X-Men, whether it's fighting against them or alongside them facing a common enemy. The one thing Deadpool is best known for is his insanity and sarcastic humor (hence the 'Merc with a Mouth' title). Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza made the character so that he frequently breaks the fourth wall, talking to the reader and being the only person who realizes he's in a comic book.

So far, Ryan Reynolds has expressed a desire to star in the Deadpool adaptation, but there has not been any official confirmation whether he will or not. I, for one, am hoping he does end up being cast as Deadpool. He did pretty well with what little he had to work with in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and showed in the leaked test footage that he can handle the sarcastic humor and insanity needed for the role.

While 20th Century Fox set a February 12, 2016 release date for Deadpool, they have also made a few other changes for movies coming out within the next year or two from the studio. The Assassin's Creed adaptation starring Michael Fassbender was taken out of its original August 7, 2015 date and is currently waiting for a new release date; the Fantastic Four reboot has taken its place. The young adult adaptation Paper Towns has been moved up a month from July 31 to June 19, 2015.

Deadpool will be going up against Lionsgate's Gods of Egypt, an unnamed animated project from Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. romantic comedy How to Be Single. Judging from fan reactions, something tells me Deadpool won't have any problem at the box office unless the movie itself just plain sucks.

Obi-Wan Kenobi spinoff rumored

With so much going on in the Star Wars film universe involving three more main films as well as a few spinoffs, it's difficult to keep track of what is rumor and what has been confirmed. There have been countless rumors pertaining to what the spinoffs will be about; everything from a Yoda, Han Solo, or Boba Fett prequel, to a spinoff following an X-wing squadron. Star Wars fans have been rooting for their favorite characters to get their own film, and Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi is near the top of that list wanted for a spinoff. Obi-Wan is so popular, in fact, that Ewan McGregor himself (who played the Jedi Master in Star Wars Episodes I-III) is wanting to return to the franchise starring in his own spinoff.

It looks like Lucasfilm has been listening to the fans, as the rumor that Obi-Wan Kenobi is getting his own film has resurfaced. These rumors began sometime last year when the spinoffs and the next three main installments were first announced. According to a quote from a source of the Making Star Wars website close to the Star Wars films, “I’ve heard from quite a few people now that an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie is in the works. For the spinoff movies they were initially going to stay away from any Jedi or Sith characters. But I’m hearing now that because of the popularity of Obi-Wan (fans recently voting for him on the official website, etc.) that an art team is now working with a writer on concepts for an Obi-Wan movie.”

The only way I can see an Obi-Wan spinoff working with Ewan McGregor reprising his role is if it's either a) based on events between Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV: A New Hope regarding Obi-Wan keeping a watchful eye over Luke Skywalker on Tatooine, or b) do an origin story. While it would be cool to see how Obi-Wan became a Jedi Master and went on to train Anakin Skywalker, I personally would be more interested to know more about what he was up to in between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. That story could be anything from him keeping a watchful eye over Luke Skywalker, to him attempting to find any remaining Jedi after the assault on the Jedi Temple and the ensuing genocide.

The Making Star Wars website also reported that their source clarified other rumors such as how long Luke Skywalker has been missing, descriptions of soldiers who accompany Leia on a mission, the Sith home world Moraband, and whether or not the villains in Episode VII are related to Count Dooku from Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

According to this source, at the time of Episode VII, Luke Skywalker has been missing for about 10 years. He was around for about 10-15 years after the events of Return of the Jedi, but he soon disappeared for unknown reasons.

From the description of the guards accompanying Leia on a mission to visit the Hutts, the guards seem to be X-wing pilots/Rebel soldiers. Earlier descriptions were thought to be more along the lines of soldiers from the planet of Naboo: "The recent x-wing pictures with the extras in them - these are the same soldiers that were flanking Leia in the production sketch I reported where she was in the middle of several Hutts..."

One recent rumor regarding the lineage of Count Dooku seems to be true: "And the recent Adam Driver rumor - Benedict Cumberbatch, Gwendoline Christie, the Count Dooku connection, and now the Adam Driver rumors. These are all based on that central idea of an aristocratic family 'line' involving Episode 7's bad guys. And as I said before, I firmly believe it's the line of Dooku. Details and characters might have changed but the idea of an aristocratic villain with a heritage going back to the Clone Wars has been there from pre-production and as far as I know is still a major part of the story".

The Sith home world of Moraband has been all but confirmed to be in Episode VII: "Moraband - the Sith home world is in the movie. It's been there throughout production with various names attached to it. I had it confirmed to me from someone working in England that there are sets for the 'Sith world'."

I hope the rumors regarding the Count Dooku lineage and the Sith home world are true, I think it would be interesting to see both of those things happen onscreen. As mentioned above, I would be interested in an Obi-Wan Kenobi spinoff; however, I'd be more interested in either a Yoda or Boba Fett spinoff. Heck, I would even like to see a Darth Maul spinoff. His character had way too little screen time in Episode I: The Phantom Menace. I would love to get to know his character better.



Star Wars Episode VII will make its way into theaters on December 18, 2015.

Sources: Screen Rant , Making Star Wars

The November Man

For years Peter Devereaux served his country in the C.I.A as a faithful agent, until he became involved with a botched mission in Montenegro due to an inexperienced rookie agent named Mason. As a result, Devereaux quit the C.I.A. and retired to Switzerland running a lakeside café. Fast forward a few years, and Devereaux's former boss named Hanley pays him a visit to offer him a chance at one last mission.This time, the mission is to save Devereaux's ex-wife, Natalia Ulanova. As it turns out, Natalia's been turned into a mole for the C.I.A. to spy on a former war criminal and current Russian presidential candidate named Arkady Federov. Natalia has some crucial information on Federov, but she is only willing to reveal it to the C.I.A. if Devereaux is the one who brings her in. However, in the process of extracting her from the clutches of Arkady Federov, Natalia is shot and killed by a sniper. Devereax pursues the attacker only to find out it is his former protegė, Mason. Now on the run from the very organization he so faithfully served, Devereaux must figure out what exactly the information is that the C.I.A. is after, and why his ex-wife was murdered for this information.

The November Man starts out really well, with an easy to follow story, as well as some good action sequences to go along with it (at least in the beginning). Unfortunately, about halfway through the story goes from easy-to-follow to quite convoluted, and so it's difficult to tell just who are the good guys and who is bad; not to mention the motivations of some of the characters. Because of this, some of Devereaux's actions make no sense as to how they would help him figure out who wants the information and why.

"Peter Devereaux...know what we used to call you? The November Man. 'Cuz after you passed through, nothing lived." That line pretty much sums up the violence in The November Man. The action comes fast and brutal right from the beginning, and doesn't stop until the final scene. It's rare I'm ok with overly brutal, graphic violence (usually I'm only ok with it if it's something like Gladiator where the culture or time period is brutal, or war movies like Saving Private Ryan, instead of having graphic violence just for the heck of it), and in this case...well, as a whole I thought it didn't go too far, but there were some individual scenes where the violence felt like it could have been toned down a bit. There's one scene in particular where Devereaux breaks into an apartment, kidnaps a woman and inexplicably cuts her femoral artery as her boyfriend tries to save her. In the overall scheme of things it was unclear as to why that scene was included. As a result of both the violence and a jumbled story, The November Man is a mess of a film. I guess you can say it lives up to its title: like the month of November, The November Man is dismal and relatively lifeless. It's too bad, I was hoping it would be better since Pierce Brosnan is a great actor and I thought it would be cool to see him back in a super-spy thriller again like in his 007 days.

The Hundred-Foot Journey

Ever since he was a boy, Hassan Kadam has always wanted to be a chef. He feels most at home whenever he is in the kitchen experimenting with various spices and flavors. Though he has never had formal culinary training, his mother taught him everything he knows - not only in what ingredients to use to create the best meal possible, but also to take great care and pride in the process. All of this changes when Hassan and his family have to flee Mumbai after their restaurant is burned to the ground during a protest. Their journey first takes them to London, and soon after the family makes their way to France. Once in France, they set up shop in an old run down building across the street from a high-profile French restaurant run by a woman named Madame Mallory. Madame Mallory at first does not take kindly to her seemingly obnoxious neighbors. She and Hassan's family get into a culinary showdown to win over the hearts - and stomachs - of the townspeople. As time passes, however, Madame Mallory slowly gets to know Hassan and realizes the talent he has in the kitchen.

The Hundred-Foot Journey is a delightfully charming movie, that if you see it with an empty stomach, will most likely make you hungry. The way in which food is interwoven into the story is well done; from the way in which Hassan applies his culinary knowledge from his mother to his creations, to the way food tends to bring families and friends together. You can almost taste and smell each of the meals being prepared throughout the movie. The relationships and interactions between each of the characters feels genuine; it never feels forced, much like a fruitcake during the Christmas season that gets passed around because nobody ever actually wants it. Om Puri as Papa Kadam, Manish Dayal as Hassan Kadam, and Helen Mirren as Madame Mallory were all wonderful, along with the rest of the cast. They seemed to actually enjoy being together onscreen. That's always a relief to see, as it makes the whole experience of watching a movie much more pleasant. The Hundred-Foot Journey is one that the whole family will enjoy, not to mention make you want to sit down and have a meal with your family and friends.